Be Careful
by MadeNew
Summary: Sasuke finds himself less than impressed with Naruto's security detail and decides to tell him so. Naruto, on the other hand, has no idea that there's even been an assassination attempt. Heavily implied SNS, canon-compliant through the Final Valley. Oneshot. Complete.


_A/N: This is very different than anything I've written before. Please, bear with me. Canon-compliant through the final valley. Naruto has become Hokage. Sasuke is less than impressed with his security detail. Heavily implied SNS. If that's not your thing, check out my "Saudade: The Things We Lost" canon-compliant collection. Please, enjoy!_

**Be Careful**

Sasuke had blood on his hands as he stalked towards Naruto's apartment.

It shouldn't have been anything new. He'd had blood on his hands for years – since he was thirteen and he had struck his best friend through the chest, left him broken and unconscious in the mud and rain – and he hadn't been clean since.

Still, to feel it against his skin again, slick and staining, was startling. It had been years since he'd had to do this, since he'd had to strike down this many this quickly. And he was both exhilarated and furious.

He slammed the door open, uncaring of the splintering at the hinge because _damnit _it should be so much harder for him to get in here –

"Sasuke? What the hell –"

"Your ANBU are fucking incompetent," Sasuke snarled, launching a kunai at Naruto's throat. His friend caught it handily, the blade pointed towards Sasuke – even if his reflexes had been slower, the most it would have done was left a bruise that the Kyūbi would have healed in mere seconds –

"What the – you're the one trying to kill me, asshole, or at least you're the only one throwing fucking weapons at me, and I can't actually have them keep _you_ out, you know –"

Sasuke crossed the room in a flash, seizing Naruto by the collar. "I am _not _the one trying to kill you. As far as I can tell, I'm the only one keeping you alive."

Naruto blinked, and Sasuke could see his eyes widen as he registered the blood on Sasuke's hand and the heavy scent of death that surrounded him. "Look, even if someone else did actually get to me, you're the only who stands a chance anyways. I'm not that easy to kill, you know."

Sasuke pushed harder, slamming Naruto into the wall. "You – fucking – _idiot."_

Naruto's eyes blazed, and Sasuke felt golden chakra stir underneath the surface. "Wanna tell me what the fuck is going on?" Naruto asked, his hand coming up to clench hard on Sasuke's wrist.

"An attack," Sasuke said, refusing to let go. "It doesn't matter if the assassins are incompetent or not, _Hokage-sama_. All it takes is one fucking lucky hit, and you're –"

"Sasuke, I'm not –"

"You're not fucking _listening!" _Sasuke gave one more push at Naruto's throat, and he dropped his head to his friend's shoulder, trying to hide – to control – the emotions –

"Sasuke." Naruto let go of his wrist to gently cradle his neck, and his other hand rested on Sasuke's shoulder, probing at the place where one of the assailants had, in fact, gotten in a lucky strike. "Shit. You're bleeding. Let me get Sakura."

He grabbed at Naruto's cloak again. "No."

"You need –"

"You. Just you." He lifted his face, eyes blazing. "And if you don't start taking your safety fucking seriously, I'm going to –"

"Okay, okay!" Naruto raised his hands in surrender. "I get it, alright? You're in charge of my ANBU team from now on. Sai could use the help. And in the meantime, will you please let me heal you, then? I need you too, you know."

Sasuke's face burned. "That's not – that's not what I meant, usuratonkachi."

"It's what I meant," Naruto said softly, and he pushed Sasuke back. "Did you leave anyone alive? Shikamaru will probably want to question them…"

"Yes. One." Not that Sasuke had wanted to, but he was also curious who was fucking _bold _enough to launch an assassination attempt on Konoha's Hero –

"Good. Where are they?"

Sasuke sank down to the chair as Naruto moved around him, carefully pulling back his cloak. "Secure."

"Sasuke, where –"

"Drop it, Naruto."

"If I find you left them with Suigetsu and Karin again –"

"That was once, and you can't say it didn't work – but they're with Shikamaru already."

Naruto's fingers paused at the collar of Sasuke's shirt. "Does Shikamaru know that?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "He will, moron."

"Sasuke –"

"Are you going to treat my wounds or not?" Sasuke glared at him, determined that no amount of amused curiosity in those blue eyes was going to entice him to admit that he'd left the woman trussed up on the strategist's doorstep with a note explaining in detail the ANBU team's incompetence and Sasuke's determination to come back and get an explanation himself, after Nara had had at them –

"Fine," Naruto laughed. He peeled the shirt back, and then shifted forward to look at Sasuke's eyes.

"Usuratonkachi, my face is fine," Sasuke said softly, turning away.

"Thank you."

Sasuke's eyes snapped back to him. Naruto's earnestness was written all over his face. "Naruto."

"No, seriously. Thank you. I think I'd probably be dead without you a few times over now, and I know what it costs you – to do this. So thank you."

Sasuke frowned. "I'm not afraid to kill to protect what's mine, Naruto. You know that."

"I – I know. But that doesn't mean you want to. And I'm sorry I put you in a position where you have to." Naruto's eyes dropped, focused back on Sasuke's shoulder as he moved to clean the wound.

Sasuke shifted, putting him front and center again, and carefully moved to knock Naruto's arm out of the way and take him by the chin. Slowly, deliberately, he leaned forward and left a kiss tinged with blood on the center of his forehead. "Don't be sorry," he whispered. "Be _careful_."

Naruto reached up to curl his hand around the back of his neck. "I promise."

Nothing else was said, as Naruto slowly and carefully cleaned Sasuke up, tossing his clothes into the sink, and moved him gently to the bed. Nothing else was needed, as Naruto sat himself at the window and started on paperwork that would set Sasuke up to train his ANBU detail, and Sasuke let himself relax into the sheets.

It would happen again, Sasuke knew. Naruto was too kind, too trusting – Sasuke himself was proof of that – to change that part of himself. But when it did, Sasuke would be there.

Really, Naruto didn't need to be more careful, not for his own sake. But Sasuke felt the promise when gentle hands brushed his hair back from his face. He would try – for Sasuke.

After all, Naruto always kept his promises.

_A/N: A little cheesy at the end, but sweet, I thought! Please, let me know what you think._

_-MN_


End file.
